Residents urged to help bring rough sleepers in out of the cold

Help those sleeping rough during the cold weather.

Published:18:00Friday 15 January 2016

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With night time temperatures predicted to fall below zero this weekend, Lancaster City Council’s homeless team is urging people to use a dedicated homelessness service if they spot anyone sleeping rough.

StreetLink is the most effective way of alerting local authorities and specialist services to someone who may be in desperate need of help, whatever the time of day or night.

A dedicated team of city council staff are on standby 24/7 to respond to alerts and offer on the spot support and advice as well as making arrangements to get them off the street and into temporary accommodation during periods of sub-zero temperatures.

Although some rough sleepers are already known to the team, there can be others new to the district which remain unnoticed, bedding down at different times of day or night, and moving from place to place.

Coun Karen Leytham, cabinet member with responsibility for housing, said: “Thankfully we don’t have the number of rough sleepers you might see in other towns and cities but one is one too many.

“That is why the council remains committed to ensuring no-one on its patch spends a second night out on the street which in time can lead to them becoming a victim of crime, developing drug or alcohol problems and in minus temperatures could lead to illness and even death.

“If you’re concerned about someone sleeping rough, the best thing you can do is to report what you have seen to Street Link so that our specialist team of staff can bring them in out of the cold and connect them to other local services which can get them back on their feet.“

You can contact StreetLink by telephoning the 24/7 StreetLink phone line 0300 500 0914 or report your concerns using the StreetLink website www.streetlink.org.uk.

Alternatively you can download the StreetLink App from the iTunes or Google Market store free of charge. Alternatively, at evenings and weekends you can call Lancaster City Council’s out of hours service tel. 01524 67099.